Russian ballet dancers give performances at home

Russian ballet dancers on partial lockdown have begun giving performances at home to keep fans engaged online after theaters across the country closed due to the coronavirus.

Seven dancers from the Mikhailovsky Theater in St Petersburg, one of Russia’s most prominent troupes, have been filming spins in their kitchens, lifts in their living rooms and plies as they sweep the floor.

They have compiled their moves into a short but entertaining video. Set to music by composer Ludwig Minkus, the 3-minute video, shared on the theater’s social media pages last Sunday, has garnered nearly 30,000 views on Instagram and more than 550 comments on Facebook.

“Artists remain true to themselves even in the current unusual conditions,” the Mikhailovsky Theater said.

“While they do not have the opportunity to interact with spectators at the theater, the interior of their homes serves as a stage and creative platform for their performance,” it added.

The theater said the initiative had come from principal dancer Ivan Vasilyev, who in the video is seen lifting ballerina Maria Vinogradova across a living room as she carries a casserole.

The final seconds of the performance include bows, applause and bouquets, like a live show.

Other Russian theaters have undertaken similar initiatives as they remain closed to the public amid the pandemic.

Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater, whose director told the Kommersant newspaper yesterday he feared for its survival if it didn’t restart performances in September, has begun streaming some of its most notable past performances online.

And an opera and ballet theater in Perm, an industrial city east of Moscow, is allowing only one spectator to physically watch its performances, which it broadcasts to everyone else on the internet.